June 04, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1429

RAWALPINDI, June 3: Lawyers do not accept the proposed constitutional package giving legal status to those judges who have taken oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).

This was stated by High Court Bar Association Rawalpindi President Sardar Asmatullah Khan after chairing a meeting of all district and tehsil bar associations representatives held to chalk out their plan for the June 10 long march here on Tuesday.

He demanded restoration of deposed judges in accordance with the Murree Declaration.

The meeting was also attended by Justice (retired) Tariq Mehmood and Athar Minallah.

“We totally reject the proposed constitutional package as it is aimed at accommodating the PCO judges,” said the HCBA chief while talking to the press after the meeting. One would have to draw a line between the right and wrong as the proposed package gives legality to those who violated the constitution.

He said lawyers had hoped that the elected government would honour the mandate of the masses and its own pledge made in Murree on March 9 to restore the judges. He said their protest march was aimed at reminding the government of its unfulfilled commitment.

Talking about the planned long March, Asmatullah said on June 10 the lawyers from Sindh and southern Balochistan would gather in Multan and would come to Lahore on June 12. From Lahore, all the participants of the long march led by deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would gather in Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi.

He said Rawalpindi would host the lawyers coming from all the district bars to participate in the long march.

“From Liaquat Bagh we would move to Islamabad and gather at Constitutional Avenue and march towards the Parliament House,” he added. To a question that lawyers in their earlier statements had said they would march towards the Army House, he said the National Action Committee of lawyers had decided that the march would be towards the Parliament House. Lawyers are agitating for independence of judiciary and against the PPP government, he added.